Hey there, Sailor!

You may have noticed some interruption in this blog, as well as some posts that came to you twice. The blogger dot com server (which I have no control over whatsoever) was down for maintenance on 5/11/11 and there were apparently a few glitches after that. This falls under the rubric: "You get what you pay for." Blogger dot com is - you guessed it - free to users. There may be issues like this from time to time. But the price is right. Now to the topic at hand.

This pretty little flower is called a Roving Sailor. (Maurandya antirrhiniflora)** Also known as Snapdragon Vine, but Roving Sailor is so much more colorful. As you are crossing the Bear Canyon bridge, look around the button bushes growing (but not yet blooming) on the north side. The Roving Sailor vines are intertwined with the bushes (and other plants) in that area. Check out the leaves of the Roving Sailor. Triangles!
All photos by Ned Harris (who is not himself a roving sailor. Just ask Linda.)
**Joan Tedford has the latest in plant classification on her Sabino Canyon list from Feb 2011. This plant is now in the Orobanchaceae (Broomrape) family, not the family listed on the site linked above. Genus and species names remain the same, though.